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Built To Last

Reader mode
Armsmaster will be known as the cape that could 1v1 Leviathan though, so he's got that going for him. One attack then fleeing is a pretty powerful statement.

ujub77 said:
Next up: Trickster lobotomy and Noelle upload i assume.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

"We removed all of the Simurgh bombs in his head, and the remainder can fit on a SIM card."
 
Interlude: Noelle
(Noelle)
Date Point: 0832, April 30th, 2011. Saturday.

I snapped to awareness in a hospital bed. And... I could think clearly. There were no urges to eat people, nothing of the sort. I looked down, and I had actual human legs. No horrible mass of monster mouths and fucked up... stuff. But... something was off.

That tube plugged into my arm wasn't an IV. It was a cable. Why would a cable be plugged into someone?

Before I could think myself into a panic, someone spoke.

"Noelle Meinhardt? I'm Ruggedizer, and I'd like to know how you're doing."

I blinked, turning to see a woman in lightweight armor. The upper half of her face was covered by a visor with cartoony eye graphics on it, conveying well-meaning concern.

"Mostly, I'm just confused. What happened? Where is Krouse? Why am..."

Why am I not a monster.

Ruggedizer nodded.

"Let's start with what happened. A while back, I developed the technology to transfer people's minds into newly built robotic bodies; we call that process uploading. Trickster cut a deal that got you uploaded and your mind repaired, but as a condition he had to turn himself and Ballistic in to the PRT for their crimes."

...That would explain the cable.

"So... I'm a robot now?"

"Yes, though aside from setting off metal detectors and being three times the density of a human, you can basically live a normal life. You can unplug that cable now, by the way."

That was a major improvement from what I'd previously had to deal with. As Ruggedizer suggested, I unplugged the cable from my arm, and sat up on the edge of the hospital bed. As I got into a sitting position, something occurred to me.

"Um, Ruggedizer? What happened to my old body. You know, once I was out of it."

Ruggedizer took a breath, then answered.

"Your old body went berserk immediately after the uploading machine fired. Fortunately we'd prepared for that sort of outcome, so it wasn't able to hurt anyone before it was incinerated. I'd ask if you wanted the cremains, but you'd need a box the size of a refrigerator."

...Wait a moment, why couldn't I remember any of this!? Even though I was only sometimes lucid back in my old body, I definitely had at least some idea what was going on. And I just blurted that out loud...

Ruggedizer seemed startled. But she quickly regained her composure.

"Unfortunately, your power was not the only source of damage to your mind. After uploading you, but before waking you up, we examined your mind in extreme detail, and found extensive signs of tampering. Most likely by the Simurgh. After extensive consultation with the PRT and your teammates, it was decided to err on the side of caution."

"Ruggedizer, how bad was it?"

"As of right now, approximately a fifth of your mind is bespoke code replacing sabotaged or otherwise damaged sections. At their own request, Sundancer and Genesis have been uploaded and received similar treatment. Though they were able to retain a larger portion of their original minds."

"Are Genesis and Sundancer going to jail too?"

"No. They're currently in the process of signing up with the Protectorate."

Then something utterly horrible occurred to me.

"Am I still at risk of making evil clones if I touch people?"

There was a brief pause, before Ruggedizer answered.

"We tested while you were out; you don't make clones by touching people anymore. I can definitively state that you still have a parahuman ability, but I cannot tell you any particular details of the power you have."

"I guess I'll have to go through power testing, then."

Another horrible possibility came to mind.

"Um, I'm not under arrest, am I?"

"No. Upon consultation with legal professionals, all the charges against you were thrown out on grounds of insanity. You weren't in control of yourself, and since you've been brought back to sanity, there's no reason to view you as an ongoing danger."

One last question, then.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Reliabuilt factory complex, in Brockton Bay."
(Herman)
Date Point: 0710, April 30th, 2011. Saturday.

Screw 'untiring robot body', I was exhausted. But I had completed the task assigned to me.

"Melissa, I've finished reprogramming Noelle's Dynalith."

My senior nodded in contemplation.

"Thank you, Herman. I know it was a major job on very short notice, but it really needed to be done."

"Here's the report on Noelle's new power. I'm taking today off."

As it turned out, Noelle's power only slightly relied on connections to other Dynaliths. Most of it was all her, given that her Dynalith was an extremely powerful emulator for exotic phenomena. Not as efficient as a more specialized Dynalith, but able to copy nearly anything you threw at it on very short notice. And given that it was one of those Dynaliths Cauldron had utterly botched reconfiguring, it was burning through its energy reserves at an entirely unsustainable rate.

To solve the problem, I'd activated the "deploy energy collectors" subroutine of the Dynalith. I'd also turned Noelle into a Tinker, one specialized in robot duplicates replicating the abilities of extant parahumans - though notably not robots that were themselves Tinkers. That offloaded most of the more basic capabilities onto hardware distinct from the Dynalith itself - while still giving us access to the extreme potential that Dynalith had.

All those thoughts aside, I was going to bed now.
 
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{Canonicity Dubious} You seem familiar.
(Tanya)

I abruptly snapped to awareness in a parlor. My flight harness was missing, I was completely unarmed, there was a tea set on the table in front of me, and - quickly looking around the room revealed there were no doors here. The woman sitting across the table seemed to be scrutinizing me.

"Tanya von Degurechaff? I am Maria Sykes. I have some questions for you."

I blinked. I had been captured? And I was being interrogated? But this didn't match the known interrogation practices of any of the Empire's adversaries - especially not the communists I had just been fighting.

"How did I get here? There aren't any doors."

The enigmatic Maria took a sip of tea, then answered my question.

"That is classified information. Now, what's the last thing you remember before arriving here?"

That. Under what circumstances was that a sensible question to ask?

"You're hesitating. Please do not make me compel an answer."

"I last remember going to sleep in a foxhole, during combat operations against the Russy Federation."

Maria nodded, apparently thinking for a moment.

"I see you didn't lie. I'm glad you're cooperating."

That was blatant manipulation. But also brought to mind something rather important.

"What will you do to me after the interrogation?"

"That is classified information. I'm aware that answer is distressing, but protocol must be followed. Next question, do you remember how you got here?"

I blinked.

"What. No, I don't know how I got here, aren't you the one who brought me here?"

Actually, there was one tiny suspicion starting to develop, but there were too many other factors that didn't fit.

"That is classified information."

I just kept ruminating on my first death for a whole minute, when Maria spoke up again.

"This concludes the interrogation."
(Tanya)
The sudden shift in location was jarring, the uncanny interrogation room being abruptly replaced with what seemed to be an entirely normal classroom. Maria was still here though, and that smile was not encouraging.

"Good news, Tanya. We've determined your existence does not inherently present a security risk. Now to explain some things you found confusing during the interrogation. The interrogation room was a simulated space, as is this classroom. You were there because you suddenly appeared in our citizen manufacture pipeline, tripping the extradimensional interference alarms."

Before I could fully process the implications of 'citizen manufacture pipeline', Maria bowled ahead.

"Considering the dire implications of Neohadea's existence being uncovered by the Warrior Entity, we take absolutely no chances with unauthorized interdimensional access."

That wasn't helpful!

"What do you mean by 'citizen manufacture pipeline'!? This doesn't make any sense!"

Maria blinked.

"It seems I got ahead of myself. Neohadea is a civilization of robots founded to combat a multiversal threat, referred to as the Warrior Entity. One of the new synthetic brains coming off the assembly line abruptly activated before it was supposed to, tripping the alarms. That's you, by the way."

So I'd been reincarnated again. And in a way that immediately destroyed any chance of keeping my status a secret.

"Oh."

Maria nodded,

"Having dug through your mind - including the bits we had to prod you into retrieving with that interrogation - we've determined that you pose no more security risk than any other Neohadean citizen. Which also means said citizenship is available if you want it, along with the rights it entails."

I blinked.

"I really hope that you don't practice conscription."

"We don't."
 
We Just Write said:
C: The snip with Tanya being reincarnated is non-canon. There is a Neohadean named Tanya who looks basically the same, but she isn't a reincarnate, has no extra memories, and there is no Being X.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I mean even if this is canon it wouldn't affect plot at all because peaceful life is thing Tanya wants the most. She'll be perfectly happy on some bureaucrat job.
 
Hydration 10-2
(Emmy)
Date Point: 1345, April 28th, 2011. Thursday.

Unsurprisingly, the buttless carcass of Leviathan had attracted a crowd of onlookers. The PRT had set up a perimeter with admirable swiftness, so the people figuring out how to move Leviathan's remains could keep working. Then someone in Brockton Bay's municipal government had the bright idea to start charging admission, so as to keep the number of people in the vicinity to a safe level. Either that or a once-in-a-lifetime cash grab. No matter which explanation was true, it was a good idea.

I ultimately decided to join the line to take a look myself; I couldn't really put the level of catharsis into words, but I just knew I needed to see proof of an Endbringer losing in person. I got in line behind a muscular Japanese man, waited until it was time to pay for my entry, and shuffled forwards until I had a decent view. Then, the man spoke.

"I did not believe they Endbringers could lose, until today."
Voice match: Lung. 86% confidence.

I nodded.

"Truth be told, I had almost given up hope myself until now."

There was a pause, before probably-Lung spoke again.

"I once lived on Kyushu. Leviathan destroyed my home, before. And now here it lies, dead."

I blinked.

"Not quite, sadly. Leviathan's tail escaped into the ocean after Armsmaster got that hit in. Leviathan may have been defeated today, but it isn't dead."

probably-Lung turned to look at me, as if trying to figure out whether I was messing with him.

"Do you speak truthfully?"

I nodded,

"Yes. I played an indirect role in coordinating the defense. I saw the footage of Leviathan's tail slithering off like a snake."

Now my conversation partner just seemed confused.

"That is... very strange indeed. I have heard of lizards that sever their own tail as a distraction, but I never would have guessed that the rest of the Endbringer was the distraction for the tail."

"Yes, it is rather bizarre. My name is Emmy, by the way. You?"

Probably-Lung hesitated for a moment, before answering.

"I am Kenta. I am glad we met."

Then we went our separate ways.
(Andrea)
Date Point: 1015, April 30th, 2011. Saturday.

As usual, I donned my high-visibility vest and hard hat as I arrived at the construction site for the Brockton Bay Bridge. Leviathan's attack had understandably halted work on the project while the damage was assessed. As I walked towards the temporary office, I nodded to a few workers who were currently putting away some surveying equipment.

The door opened, and I quickly came face-to-face with a serious-looking man working at a computer.

"So, how bad was the damage to the bridge?"

Mike Smith - the chief engineer for the Brockton Bay Bridge project - opened up a data sheet as he began answering my question.

"You need to understand that we haven't finished the assessment yet; two days isn't a lot of time for this sort of work, and we're still waiting for some specialist equipment to image the insides of various structural elements. That said, initial signs are promising."

"Do tell?"

"Well for starters, the foundations of the main columns didn't budge a millimeter. That isn't hyperbole; I got it checked with some very precise equipment, and they're exactly where they're supposed to be. Haven't detected any signs of cracking, warping, erosion, corrosion, or other problems yet either. If nothing comes up, we should be able to resume construction by this time next week, but we're being cautious before giving the go ahead."

I nodded.

"Fair enough. I certainly wouldn't want the bridge to collapse due to some damage from Leviathan's attack going uncorrected. So I'm glad you're putting in your due dilligence."
(Rachel)
Date Point: 0201, May 1st, 2011. Sunday.

With QDF weaponry having made its public reveal and being proven in combat - albeit with the complication of Leviathan's tail escaping - the missile program now had the full go-ahead. Even better, the PRT (and a few other three letter agencies) had shoved a downright comical amount of funding at the anti-Endbringer weapons program between myself Ruggedizer and Armsmaster. But more money wasn't what we wanted or needed, exactly.

Instead, we'd asked for the de-assed Leviathan carcass to be shipped to the Manchester facility for use as a test target. Since it was obstructing traffic in its present location and we had proven results under our belt, the PRT was more than willing to facilitate the delivery. And quite quickly too, which is what resulted in it being delivered at what any organic - Miss Militia aside - would consider a godawful hour in the morning.

When it was time for the carcass to arrive, Melissa, Armsmaster, and myself were present. As was the utterly massive wide-load truck the PRT had got to do the hauling. As the truck started backing up, I took the opportunity for a little humor.

"Hey, Armsmaster?"

The Protectorate Tinker turned to me.

"Yes?"

"If you want to mount Leviathan's head on your wall, your last chance is coming up soon."

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't think it would fit."

Despite the lack of laughter, the faint smile betrayed Armsmaster's amusement. Melissa chimed in a moment later,

"Those amusing thoughts aside, it's time to unload Leviathan's carcass. Help me get the gantry crane lined up, will you? And then we need to properly secure the harnesses. This is several tons of eldritch horror we're talking about, it's not exactly trivial to move around."
 
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Hydration 10-3
(Maria)
Date Point: 1100, May 4th, 2011.Wednesday.

While Rachel and Armsmaster were developing the warhead for the anti-endbringer missiles on Earth Bet, it had been agreed that the actual missiles should be designed and tested on Neohadea. Bluntly, we just had far more room to experiment with them out here, where the Dynaliths weren't looking. This was especially important, given what our planned first demonstration would be.

I'd ended up delegating the matter to Tanya's engineering bureau, freeing myself up to continue with my governmental duties. But after a few days, Tanya and company had indicated that they had a prototype ready to test. So I'd made some time, and here I was.

As I expected, Tanya met me at the entrance.

"Greetings, your Highness. The missile test range is just this way."

I followed, asking,

"So, give me the overview. What can this missile do that makes it able to hit the Simurgh in orbit?"

"Well, we obviously d-shielded its insides to protect it against tampering. There's also the sensor suite we fitted it with, including several methods of locking onto the dimensional distortions Endbringers need to live; that should make it very hard to decoy. It's also fitted with a "screamer" that utterly scrambles extradimensional scans of all varieties within several kilometers while in flight - and it comes in at roughly three quarters the speed of light on terminal approach."

Before I could ask any further questions, Tanya finished her statement.

"In summary, good luck intercepting or dodging that."

As the gate to the test range opened, I asked another question.

"Three quarters light speed? How?"

"We fitted the missile with a rudimentary warp drive, based on Vista's power. We could have made it go faster, but accidentally exceeding c makes the warp bubble pop, and the missile's only got enough energy for one warp drive ignition. Also there's issues with accidentally causing nuclear reactions through atmospheric compression that we wanted to mitigate."

"Anyway: behold the Version Zero Anti-Endbringer Missile."

With that, I came into view of the test stand. Sure enough, that was a missile. But it looked rather strange; the mid-section had a toroidal bulge just in front of the mounting hardpoint, and instead of maneuvering fins, the fore and aft of the missile had a set of eight turning thrusters each.

"Tanya, Queen Maria! Glad to see both of you."

I quickly checked the files - yes, that was Arnie, one of the engineers on the AEM project.

"So, looking at the hard point design, you intend for this missile to be air launched?"

Arnie nodded,

"Given the way Endbringers attack, we determined that an air-launched missile had the most flexibility in deployment. I highly doubt Reliabuilt should retain full control over the AEM supply, but we also don't want to spread them around so much that they get used in human-on-human conflicts. An air-launched option therefore allows national militaries the ability to cover a large territory with a rather small arms stockpile."

"Good thinking, but we'll need at least a few ground-launched munitions for their initial debut. We don't want to give Ziz any warning of an armed aerospace craft coming up to meet her until we're ready to blast her out of orbit."

"We can do that easily enough."
(Herman)
Date Point: 1230, May 5th, 2011. Thursday.

It was lunch time, and I was in a rather bad mood. Mainly on account of bureaucracy.

"This is ridiculous; the FDA won't approve stage one clinical trials for the immunocorrectives without the PRT's say-so, and the PRT is trying to get the FDA to run a clinical trial before they'll authorize anything."

Amy nodded,

"Standard ass-covering; neither agency wants the backlash of making a bad call to land on them, so around and around it goes. With the uploading tech, it was clearly outside the FDA's wheelhouse. But here..."

"Here, they have full proof of reproducibility, all the animal testing data we could give them, it's just... argh!"

"Herman, you're going in circles. I'm sure Legal will sort it out eventually, and in the meantime we can work on something else."

I took a deep breath to calm down. Amy was right.
(Melissa)
Date Point: 1520, May 5th, 2011. Thursday.

It had been a long time coming, but we finally had approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to start selling Palletized Fusion Generators. They'd also approved a pilot plant in Maine, with six reactors authorized. A dedicated factory for Reliabuilt nuclear technology and infrastructure products was under construction in Worchester, Massacusetts. But until then, they were being built in Brockton Bay.

As I was waiting on the loading dock for the first shipment of generators to be picked up, Angie Rains spoke up.

"Despite everything, things hadn't quite felt real until today."

"Do tell?"

Angie shrugged,

"Until the technology leaves the laboratory, it doesn't really affect anyone's lives. Pure Tinker tech can't really change the world for the better even then. So all this? It felt kind of like- I'm not sure what it felt like before, but it didn't quite feel real."

I nodded.

"I think I understand; it was a similar story with my first patent. The Energy Teleportation one. I genuinely didn't think it would be reproduced - but when it was I could feel something. I don't really know what the words for it would be though."

"Maybe it's hope? It feels wrong to hope that things might get better, like it's been forbidden by some higher authority. But for once, things are finally starting to look up a bit."

As the first generator was loaded onto the intermodal truck that would carry it to Maine, I nodded.

"Yeah, they are. And I'm not about to just give up on making things better without a fight."
 
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Interlude: Simurgh
The Simurgh was currently idling in orbit, as much as such a being could be called idle. As part of its duties, the precognitive was picking out targets for the other Endbringers. In particular, Brockton Bay was a location of much importance, and a prime target for a strike by Leviathan. The Tinker enterprise known as Reliabuilt simply had to go, and crucial elements for the plan to reveal Cauldron were also present. There were no signs of a genuine threat to Leviathan present in the city, so the Simurgh gave the order without trepidation.

The approach to the target was uneventful; the subjects noticed Leviathan's approach unusually early, but that was deemed irrelevant. Armsmaster charging with a hard-light blade was also deemed irrelevant; such a weapon had no capability to seriously harm an Endbringer.

[DAMAGE][FEAR][ESCAPE][QUERY]

The burst of communication from Leviathan as it retreated to the safety of the ocean was a complete and utter surprise to the Simurgh. The weapon used to grievously injure Leviathan should not have been capable of doing so, and yet it had. If the weapon had been angled just a few degrees further to the left, it would have killed Leviathan.

[WEAPON][DECEPTION]

It took several seconds for the Simurgh to determine what happened - Armsmaster's weapon was in fact making use of a weaponized teleportation effect. One notably independent from dimensional phenomena, and thus unaffected by the overlays inside an Endbringer. The next task on the Simurgh's agenda was determining the origin of said weapon.

While the insides of Armsmaster's mind and equipment were inaccessible, tracing his whereabouts was simple enough.

Reliabuilt was thus immediately implicated in the creation of that incredibly dangerous weapon. Not only had Armsmaster visited Reliabuilt facilities several times in the lead-up to Leviathan's attack, but the "Shear" was first seen leaving a Reliabuilt facility.

[ORIGIN][CONTAINMENT]

The removal of Reliabuilt had thus ascended to the very top of the Simurgh's priority list, but the simple fact that its leadership and hardware were immune to the Simurgh's senses made a direct assault inadvisable. Especially not with more Shear weapons potentially in the vicinity.

The Simurgh had no obligation to attack directly. Compromising its cover as only having limited range was off-limits for now, but there were plenty of unstable hosts who might plausibly take offense to Reliabuilt on the flimsiest of justifications. There were hundreds of viable candidates, so the Simurgh could even afford to be a bit choosy in who to send.

The Simurgh began quietly adjusting target hosts, putting Reliabuilt more and more at the forefront of their thoughts - specifically in the most negative light that would escape detection by those around them. It would take at least twenty two days to set up a full-fledged assault on Reliabuilt in a way that would not implicate the Simurgh directly, so the Endbringer took the patient approach.

Sixteen days after Leviathan's attack, the Simurgh's planning was abruptly interrupted by its senses being scrambled in the vicinity of Brockton Bay. For a moment, it thought this was simple jamming - but the points of disruption were rapidly gaining altitude. Not just rapidly gaining altitude - the disruptions were vectoring directly towards the Simurgh.

The Simurgh immediately made the connection. These were guided missiles - missiles that were not only aimed directly at the Simurgh, but also presented an excessively high probability of proving lethal, and would be exceedingly difficult to intercept on account of the jamming.

Before the Simurgh could move to use satellites as impromptu missile interceptors and retaliatory projectiles, the missiles abruptly increased speed to a truly excessive degree.

The calculation was immediate. The missiles would hit in thirty milliseconds. There was no measure the Simurgh could take in that time to intercept the missiles, evade them, or otherwise ensure its own survival. All that was left was spite.

There were one hundred thirty three hosts primed to assault Reliabuilt - most of the work guiding them to that conclusion was already complete. All the Simurgh would need to do is pull the metaphorical trigger early. And staring down its death, that is exactly what the Simurgh did.
 
Well XP bags are coming to Brockton. I dont see how Fallen can succeed here considering how all important members are uploaded or defended by other means.They are immune against human masters basically. Mannequin is also nudged somehow. But even s9 is not threat at this point with uncertain exception of Siberian. Most they could do is orchestrate some kinda hostage situation.
 
"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" - Khan Noonien Singh, Captain Ahab, Smiurgh

Yup. Spite is a very powerful drug. One hundred and thirty bombs, but that doesn't tell us what they are. I expect a few will be in the media, trying to burn reputation. A few more in politics trying to drown the place in red tape and taxes. A few more as grassroot rally kind of rabble rousers. One crazy PRT guy in a bunker with the inter city ballistic missiles and a launch code pumped into their head by the will of god saying that Brockton Bay would look much better flat.

Yeah, the S9 or the Fallen can come too. Why not. They won't do much, but they can bring marshmallows.
 
Hydration 10-4
(Emmy)
Date Point: 1112, May 14th, 2011. Saturday.

The Simurgh had been shot down two hours ago, the Anti-Endbringer Missiles doing their job admirably. The press conference about said shootdown was just about to start. Funnily enough, the press conference had been planned a few days in advance, so there wasn't much panic in getting things set up in a hurry. Though the news organizations involved had only been told it was about follow-up to Leviathan's attack, the recent confirmation of the Simurgh's death meant the planned subject matter had undertaken an "abrupt shift".

My business suit in a presentable state, I stepped onto the podium.

"As I am sure everyone is now thoroughly aware, the Simurgh has been shot out of orbit. The resulting debris field is projected to finish atmospheric re-entry within the next week or so. The missiles used to shoot down the Simurgh were the initial production batch of Reliabuilt's new Anti-Endbringer Missile System, developed in coordination with Dragon and Armsmaster."

At this point, a simplified diagram of the missiles was projected onto the screen behind me.

"AEMs are highly specialized ordnance, bearing a warhead operating on the same principles as the Shear used against Leviathan. Their guidance package is similarly specialized, being built to lock onto Endbringers and nothing else. The missiles also contain a highly confidential number of measures designed to prevent them from being intercepted, decoyed, or evaded."

Everyone seemed somewhat awestruck, and then I continued.

"At present, we at Reliabuilt are planning to sell Anti-Endbringer Missiles to national militaries worldwide, so as to ensure every country can get genuinely effective defenses against Endbringer attacks. That said, there is a notable caveat: we will be taking measures to prevent AEMs from being used in human-on-human conflicts."

The slide advanced to show a diagram comparing the input costs and final price points for various missiles.

"Putting it bluntly, we intend to strictly limit the number of Anti-Endbringer Missiles sold to any given country. In addition, we will charge whatever sum is necessary per missile to dissuade their use in place of conventional ordnance."

Someone from CNN got up the urge to ask a question, then.

"You intend to price-gouge people on the only weapon demonstrated to kill an Endbringer?"

I nodded affirmatively.

"Yes. It's not about the money. It's about not becoming a catalyst for global conflicts. The combination of characteristics needed for a missile capable of reliably killing Endbringers would make it far too much of a temptation for military strategists to use otherwise. Each individual missile needs to be so precious that the militaries entrusted with AEMs would only ever consider firing them at their intended targets. If the purchase price was in any way proportional to Reliabuilt's manufacturing costs for AEMs, that would not be the case."

Another reporter asked a question, then.

"Are you at all concerned about Anti-Endbringer Missiles being reverse-engineered? Reliabuilt Tinkertech has proven abnormally reproducible before."

I raised an eyebrow.

"The reason for that reproducibility is twofold. First, we have much better documentation of our manufacturing processes than most Tinkers. Second, Ruggedizer's tech is so jammed full of diverse redundancies that the damn thing usually still works after taking a blowtorch to all the incomprehensible bits. Regarding the documentation of the manufacturing process, that is being kept a closely guarded secret. As for the redundancies, that has instead been weaponized to render the inside of each AEM as incomprehensible as possible without compromising function."

"We at Reliabuilt therefore fully expect any efforts to copy AEMs without our collaboration to hit a brick wall."
(Herman)
Date Point 1841, May 16th, 2011. Monday.

My public-facing shift being over, I almost immediately made my way to the command center on Neohadea. As I entered, the several officers who'd taken posts in this critical operation saluted. One of them (2IC Jeanne) greeted me.

"Commander Herman, we have good news."

I took a sip of Neohadean 'tea' as I replied via radio.

"Let's hear that status report, Jeanne."

"Our number of sponsored parahumans on Earth Bet has hit two hundred, with their distribution starting to match human population density. We've also started sponsoring parahumans on other Earths, including thirty on Earth Aleph. This in turn has given us access to roughly six thousand Dynalith addresses, of which we've subverted eight hundred thus far."

I smiled.

"Excellent news. Are there any issues cropping up?"

"Just one thus far, Earth Shin. It has a number of very powerful parahumans on it, but is ruled by a dictatorial Master who does not take kindly to having opposition around that she cannot brainwash. Our sponsored parahumans have been getting assassinated before they can actually do anything."

I quickly read the file in more detail. My immediate response was that this self-proclaimed Goddess needed to be eliminated… but the infosec requirements to keep Neohadea safe would not permit such actions. At least, not in any way I could think of just yet that wasn't infeasibly convoluted.

After a few moments, I asked "Have we at least managed to subvert any Dynaliths connected to Earth Shin parahumans?"

"No, sadly. We've managed to get six addresses, but none of them have been subverted yet."

I nodded grimly, the basics of a workable plan already formulating in my mind.

"Prioritize those Dynaliths for subversion. Once we've got control of them, don't make any changes to the outward power expression, but do set them to start logging addresses for other Dynaliths encountered. Try and work your way up to seizing Goddess's Dynaliths, and once those are subverted, use their connection to Goddess to deniably worsen her health until she bites it. Kill her as quickly as possible without compromising security."

Jeanne saluted, her expression similarly grim.

"Understood, Commander. We'll get right on it."
(Maria)
Date Point 0552, May 17th, 2011. Tuesday.

I munched down a fuel rod (a common Neohadean energy snack) as I left the stage, having just announced that the first elections for Parliament would be held July 1st, with political parties needing to register by June 12th to be on the ballot. We'd ultimately opted for simple proportional representation, since it was the least troublesome option in terms of implementation.

Rather unexpectedly, I was greeted by Tanya just backstage.

"Your Majesty, Engineering Bureau Violet has just made a significant advancement that could greatly enhance the security of Neohadea."

I nodded,

"Tell me more."

"We've figured out how to falsify returns from Dynalith scans, as opposed to simply blocking or jamming them. The principle is still in its early development stages, but if mastered would allow Neohadea to remain uninteresting to the Dynaliths even if they ever bother to update their scans of this world."

I blinked, running calculations.

"Understood. Tanya, I'll get you in touch with the Treasury immediately. This spoofing project is important enough to national security to get whatever resources are helpful to hasten its technological maturity."

I wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. The infosec protocols absolutely demanded that this project be brought to completion as close to immediately as possible. And so, Bureau Violet would get everything they could possibly use for pushing this technology forwards. We quite literally didn't have a choice in the matter anymore.
 
Hydration 10-5
(Emmy)
Date Point: 1305, May 14th, 2011. Saturday.

I'd buried my face in my hands at the news. In retrospect the public relations blunder I'd made was obvious, but I'd not realized it at the time.

As it turned out, openly price-gouging world saving weaponry was extremely unpopular with both the general public and world governments. It hadn't even been two hours yet, and already there were protests outside the Reliabuilt facilities in both Manchester and Worcester. Brockton Bay didn't quite have picketers turning up, but the attitude was palpable here all the same.

So I quickly threw together a script, and fired up a telepresence hologram in front of the crowds of protesters.

"This is Emmy Sykes speaki-"

I was immediately booed. Someone even threw a rock at the Manchester projection, which didn't actually do much aside from signal anger.

"Yes yes, I know you're unhappy about the price gouging, and you're right. I screwed up, I'm sorry."

Now that seemed to stun everyone into silence. I suppose they simply weren't used to corporate figures actually acknowledging fault in any meaningful way.

"Effective immediately, the pricing structure is being revised to ensure countries can readily access the weaponry needed to protect themselves from the Endbringers. While there will still be sale limits determined by population and area, first time Anti-Endbringer Missile purchases will be at cost, accounting for shipping and handling. At-cost pricing will also be in effect for replacing missiles fired at Endbringers, or other S-class threats that we can be convinced genuinely warranted such a response."

Dead silence in Worcester, a few people cheered in Manchester.

"That said, we still want Anti-Endbringer Missiles kept out of human on human conflicts. As such, replacements for misused missiles will be priced at penalty rates. These penalty rates will be individually assessed on a case-by-case basis, and will be set at whatever value is necessary to make the mis-use of the missile in question not worth it. Resale of Anti-Endbringer Missiles will be considered misuse, with penalty rates being in effect for replacing misused missiles. Missiles 'lost' due to corruption will be considered resold at the highest penalty rate currently in effect, for the purpose of pricing their replacements. Minimum penalty rates start at 100 million US Dollars."

Someone in Worcester shouted "YOU STINK!"

That said, most of the protestors didn't really seem to have much fire left in them anymore. Over the next half an hour, they gradually wandered off. Though still with a fair bit of grumbling.

Eh, I'd take it.
(Andrea)
Date Point: 1021, May 18th. Wednesday.

Once again, I'd flown over to the bridge construction site to check on how things were going. On my way over, I got to see that the main suspension cables had already been installed. Though the travel span hadn't been started yet, major progress had clearly been made since Leviathan's attack.

I landed, donned my reflective vest and hard hat, and checked in with Mike Smith.

"Laniakea. Nice to see you, we've got good news."

I smiled,

"Aside from the main suspension cables going in, you mean?"

"Yes actually; the materials we've been getting recently have been considerably better than those called for on the plans. Apparently, that materials Tinker with Reliabuilt opted to work on improving regular construction materials for a while, instead of resting on his laurels after the superconductor patent."

Ah yes, Byung-Ho had been quite busy over the last while, come to think of it.

"That's excellent to h-"

Then the temporary office's window shattered in a screaming noise as the lights exploded. Non-Reliabuilt comms went dead, even as I pulsed my gravity nodes to protect Mike from the glass shards.

Fortunately, every comms system made by Reliabuilt was still working properly. So I was swiftly informed:

"This is Emmy speaking, we have confirmation of Shatterbird being in Brockton Bay! We are under attack by the Slaughterhouse Nine!"

I snarked back over comms,

"I kind of noticed, thanks!"

As for Mike, he finally managed to get out of the stunned state he'd been in. Shortly after, obscenity spewed from his mouth as he ran off to check on his co-workers.
(Marcus)
Date Point: 1025, May 18th. Wednesday.

Immediately after Shatterbird's scream, all of Reliabuilt's public capes went on damage control. In my particular case, I'd jumped into the flying ambulance for a quick flight to the Palanquin. We had a good working relationship with Faultline's crew. Even aside from wanting their help dealing with the Nine, I was genuinely concerned for the mercenaries' safety.

The flight over only took a few minutes, and I was left distinctly uneasy by the sight of all the Palanquin's windows being shattered. I disembarked with a squad of medical drones, and we forced entry through the back door.

What we saw was a complete and utter mess of blood stains and glass fragments, along with dozens of people moaning in pain, slumped along walls and such. One of those slumped-over people was Faultline herself. And she was just aware enough to notice my presence.

"Mister E? What are you doing here?"

My answer was immediate, even as I started assessing Faultline's wounds.

"Saving your life."

I noted multiple nicked arteries, even as Faultline laughed bitterly.

"Don't bother. Lost too much blood. I'm not going to make it."

I leaned down into a position to pick up Faultline,

"Even with an emergency upload? I brought the equipment."

There was the briefest moment of hesitation, then Faultline replied.

"Do it. The rest of my team, too."

And so I started hauling Faultline's battered form to the flying ambulance.
A/N: This concludes the Hydration arc. Next up is the Invasion arc. But before that, it's interlude time. We're gonna be checking in with Shatterbird. Or should I say Shatterbutcher?
 
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